


Cat Café

by Thebloomaster



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! - All Media Types, Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Cat Cafés, Cat allergy, College AU, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Post-Canon Fix-It, Sneezing, Yami Yuugi | Atem Has His Own Body, allergic!yugi, atem loves cats
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-21
Updated: 2020-09-21
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:07:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26572684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thebloomaster/pseuds/Thebloomaster
Summary: Yugi is very allergic to cats, but Atem *loves* them. Yugi decides to to surprise Atem by taking him to a cat café. Unfortunately, the antihistamines he took earlier aren't as strong as he needs them to be. Oneshotpuzzleshipping/blindshipping.
Relationships: Atem/Mutou Yuugi, Mutou Yuugi/Yami Yuugi, Puzzleshipping - Relationship, blindshipping - Relationship
Comments: 18
Kudos: 56





	Cat Café

“What’s this surprise, Aibou?” Atem asks for the third time in the past hour. His voice is just resonant enough to be heard over the rumble of the bus, while being courteous to the other passengers. He’s twiddling his fingers in his lap. 

“You’ll have to wait and see, my impatient king.” Yugi says, winking. 

Atem bites his lip. “I’m looking forward to it...It’s just that some time has passed... _surely_ I could have a hint.”

“ _No_ , you’ll guess it, because you’re too good at these games, Atem!”

“Fair enough.” Atem smirks. He wants to rest his head on his partner’s shoulder, but they’re in public, and it would be unbecoming. They’d been on the bus for over a half hour now. What could Yugi have planned for them on this Sunday afternoon?

And then Yugi looks out the window. “Our stop is coming up.” 

They walk off the bus, down a street, and then down a smaller side street. Yugi is practically dragging him once they are out of the more densely populated area. He looks excited, but there’s something else in his eyes too. 

“Here we are!”

Atem looks up at the sign. A quizzical look crosses his features as he does so. “A cat café?” He thinks for a moment, and then recalls the commercial he and Yugi had seen. His eyes widen as Yugi confirms this. Both with joy—he _loves_ cats—and also with concern. “But Yugi, you’re allergic to cats.”

“It’s okay, Atem! I took some medicine; I’ll be fine.” Yugi explains. It’s true, he did take a hefty dose of antihistamines earlier in the day in preparation. He’d also packed a travel sized pack of tissues. Atem opens his mouth again, but Yugi cuts him off, “Let’s go in.”

Last week, a commercial had come on for this particular cat café, and he’d seen the way Atem’s eyes had lit up. The pharaoh adored cats. Years ago—back when they shared a body—Yugi learned this the hard way. Yugi had to explain the concept of allergies a few times, and he’d never forget the crestfallen look on his other half’s face when he said it wasn’t good for him to be around cats. Of course, he had stopped petting the strays out of consideration for Yugi’s health, but Yugi could see the way he’d watch them from afar. 

Atem seems to be thinking. He’s silent, and the familiar stress lines are forming on his forehead.

“I’ll be fine, my other half.” Yugi repeats. “Let’s go!”

Finally, Atem nods. “I just don’t want you to suffer, Aibou.”

“I won’t.” Yugi chuckles, opening the door. He shifts to let Atem in first. 

Yugi speaks to the woman behind the counter for a moment. She registers him and Atem. Yugi takes his shoes off and Atem follows suit. They put on the slippers and sanitize their hands as instructed. She tells them that they can’t pick up or hug the cats, but they’re free to pet them. 

And then Atem notices how many cats are in the room. He looks at his Aibou, and he’s smiling, so he does the same. 

“Let’s find somewhere to sit. We can order something to drink to start.” Yugi says. He leads them to a nook, and they sit in the booths by a table. 

Not even a minute after they’ve ordered passes before a grey tabby cat approaches them. Slowly, Atem rises and kneels before the cat. It sniffs him and nuzzles its cheek against his pant leg. Gently, he pets it. Yugi watches his boyfriend smiling—grinning even—while playing with the cat. He remains in his seat, but bends so that he can see this precious moment. So far he’s been fine, but he doesn’t want to tempt fate too much by petting the cats which he’s so allergic to. 

The waitress brings their drinks. Yugi thanks her and Atem does the same a few beats later. 

“Would you like to use this?” She asks, picking up a cat toy from a nearby table. It’s a feather toy attached to a fishing rod type of contraption. Atem looks to Yugi, who gives him a thumbs up. 

“Yes. Please.” Atem says. She gives it to him, and he looks at the device. “How do I…” He starts to ask her how to use it, but feels foolish doing so. “Never mind.” His smile falters. She nods and leaves. 

Yugi kneels next to him. “Like this, Atem.” He picks up the fishing toy and moves it so that the cat is enticed to pounce on the feather. Yugi’s smiling again, and Atem does the same. 

Another cat stalks over and brushes against Atem. The two cats are now playing with him, licking him, purring. Yugi struggles to remember a time when Atem has worn the expression that’s on his face now. He’s chuckling, petting both cats—and they seem to love him. It’s as if they know he was a great pharaoh who so loved them. He hasn’t even touched his drink. 

Yugi climbs back up into the booth to have a sip of his tea. It’s in a paper cup with a lid. His eyes are beginning to water and his nose is itching. He knows better not to rub his face, so he blinks hard. 

“Let me take your picture, Atem.” He says cheerily, pulling out his flip phone. Atem is grinning still, and an orange cat is pawing his hip. The grey tabby is in his lap, and the ragdoll cat is at his other side. “How cute.” Yugi cooes, just loud enough for his partner to hear. 

Atem picks up the toy and is playing with the cats again. It seems that they’re all vying for his affection. Yugi can’t help but laugh. 

A familiar burning itch makes itself known in Yugi’s nostrils, and he sighs. He rubs defiantly at it with the back of his wrist. He’s pretty sure that Atem is _talking_ to the cats. His heart is thudding. _Why is he so precious?_

Atem isn’t looking, so Yugi stifles two sneezes to almost complete silence. In his peripherals, he can see that Atem hasn’t noticed, and he releases a shaky breath of relief. He sniffles and blinks rapidly, trying to relieve the itch—he’d forgotten how persistent his allergies could be. But he’d be fine, it was only a little sneezing and itchiness. It was fairly rare for him to start coughing as well.

Yugi snaps a candid picture of his boyfriend. There are tears in Atem’s eyes—or perhaps it’s a trick of the light. Yugi has never seen someone who had loved cats as much as Atem does. Yugi loves them too—they’re cute, and while they’re choosey with their affection, they can be incredibly loving. Just like Atem.

Atem returns to his seat, and the orange cat follows him. He strokes its head. “No, no. _Down_.” He says. His eyes flicker over to Yugi. The cat does not obey. It licks his hand instead. Atem sighs.

“It’s okay, Atem. Don’t worry.” Yugi says, realizing that his partner is trying to keep the cat away from him. 

“Are you doing okay, Aibou?” Atem cocks his head, examining him. “Your eyes look a touch red.” 

Yugi nods. “I’m okay! I’m having fun _especially_ because...” He opens his phone. “My boyfriend is so cute.” He grins, showing Atem the newest picture he’d taken. A tinge of blush crosses Atem’s cheeks. 

“Well...I can say the same about mine.” His hand brushes against Yugi’s. 

The same waitress comes by and asks if they’d like to feed the cats. Atem’s eyes widen in awe and he nods. Before Yugi can offer his yen, he pulls out his own wallet. He’d been working for Yugi’s grandpa for the past few years, and had saved a decent amount of money. 

Soon she returns with the cat food. Atem moves so that he’s a few yards away from the table and the orange cat follows him. Yugi diligently takes another photo. 

Yugi’s nose twitches, and he blinks back allergic tears. No amount of rubbing or pressing against the underside of his nose will be able to satisfy the itch. His brows draw together, and he raises his wrist. His nostrils flare, and his head bobs down. “ _Hih’mpt! nGt...uhh.”_ He tries to stifle his sneezes as best as he can. He glances over to his partner—he’s on his knees feeding the ragdoll cat a treat. His eyes are watering more and his vision is blurry, but he sneezes again before he can rub his eyes. There’s a squelching noise that isn’t quite suppressed, and he can only hope his partner hasn’t heard it. 

Yugi hastily fishes out a tissue and blows his nose softly. Fortunately, Atem has become distracted. More cats approach him—just how many are in this room? Ten? Fifteen?— and he gives each a treat. Yugi sneezes three more times, still attempting to stifle them, not only for Atem’s sake but out of courtesy for everyone else in the café. He groans, and uses up another tissue. And another. He finishes his tea.

Once Atem has fed nearly every cat in the room, he returns. His face quickly becomes etched with concern and the worry lines return to his forehead. “Yugi, you don’t look so well.” He’s hovering over Yugi’s side now. 

“I’m okay, Atem.” His nostrils are flickering from the burning in his nasal walls. Atem gives him a pointed stare, and Yugi can’t help but sneeze again. He futilely tries to stifle it. 

“Bless you.” Atem murmurs. “I think we should get going, Aibou.”

Yugi shakes his head. “No...ndo, it’s okay,” he’s very obviously congested now, “It was just _one_ s—hh _TSHh!...uh….hh’nGshh!_ Excuse me.”

“That’s at least three now,” Atem corrected him. “And bless you.” 

Yugi sighs and sniffles hard. “It’s okay, Atem. I’m having a good time here too.” 

Atem gives him an incredulous look as he sneezes again. 

“Bless—” he cuts himself off when Yugi shakes his head and sneezes twice more. Finally, Yugi pulls out another tissue. Atem watches as his partner wipes the tears from his eyes and blows his nose. Then he takes Yugi’s free hand into his. “It’s time to go, Aibou.” 

Defeated, Yugi nods. Atem pays the woman for the time they’d spent in the café—he ignores Yugi’s protest that he should pay instead—and guides him out of the establishment. Yugi is sniffling incessantly, and Atem clicks his tongue. “My poor Yugi, why didn’t you tell me you were feeling so unwell?”

“It just...sduck up ond me.” He says, sniffling liquidly. It’s only half a lie—his symptoms had come on pretty suddenly—but really, he wanted to see his partner _happy_. 

“Hmm…” Atem is suspicious, but decides to let it slide. “Let’s get you home.” 

They wait by the nearest bus stop, and Yugi can barely breathe through his nose. Atem is feet away, and is doing his best to brush all of the cat hair from his clothes. 

“It’s alright, Atem…” Yugi says. His eyes are watery and red, and his nose completes the set. 

“You keep saying that, but is it really? You look miserable, Aibou.” He says. 

“I’mb not... _mbisrable_ —” Yugi cringes at how congested he sounds, and sniffles hard. “ _hih’tShhh!_ ”

The bus arrives before Yugi can finish his sentence. Atem takes Yugi’s forearm and guides him up the stairs, down the aisle, and into a seat. “Yugi, should I sit away from you? I’m sure I’m covered—” he stops when Yugi squeezes his hand. 

“Please stay here.” Perhaps Yugi is too miserable to care, because he rests his head on Atem’s shoulder. There are only a few other passengers, but they’re closer to the front of the bus anyway. 

“I’m sorry, Yugi. I should have—”

“No, no, I knew this’d probably happen...I did it to myself.” Yugi says. 

“But, why?” Atem says, searching Yugi’s puffy, half-mast eyes.

“Because I wanted to see you play with the cats.” he admits—it sounds stupid now that he says it aloud. “I love seeing your smile, and seeing you happy and-and I wish I could get you a cat—”

“I’m even happier when I’m with you, Aibou.” Atem murmurs in his ear. 

Yugi opens his mouth to reply, but turns away and stifles a few sneezes into his wrist. Only afterwards does he return his head to its place on his partner’s shoulder. 

“Bless you.” Atem’s brow furrows. “Doesn’t it hurt your head when you do that?”

Yugi shrugs, and Atem sighs. 

“Sorry.” Yugi says. “I know this is pretty gross.” 

But Atem shakes his head. “Nothing about you is gross, my light.” He wraps an arm around Yugi’s back. He gives his forehead a peck, and now Yugi is blushing. They don’t normally kiss in public, but no one is watching anyway. 

“Did you…” Yugi starts, pausing to sniffle, “Have a favorite cat?” 

Atem thinks for a moment and then says, “Chiyoko.”

“ _Wha_ —Which cat was that?”

“The grey one...the first cat we saw.”

“Ah…” Yugi chuckled. He coughs slightly, and Atem gives him a worried look. 

“We’ll shower at home, okay, Yugi?” He rubs Yugi’s back.

Yugi nods. 

“You’re so thoughtful, my light.” Atem says, sighing. 

“So are you.” 

Yugi dozes off on his partner’s shoulder for a bit. After a few minutes, Atem notices that his nose is starting to run, and he carefully takes a tissue from his aibou’s pocket and gently presses it against his damp nostrils. 

Atem shakes him gently when they arrive at their stop, and Yugi awakes. Yugi’s grandfather isn’t returning until later—he’s meeting his friend Arthur for dinner—so there’s no one to greet when they open the door. 

“Come, Aibou, let’s shower so you can start feeling better.” He kisses Yugi’s cheek and leads him to the bathroom. 


End file.
